Croatia and Serbia to sign military cooperation agreement in June

Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac announced a visit to Croatia in June during which the two countries’ armies are expected to sign an agreement on defence cooperation.

"This is a historical agreement with which we will put an end to the dark past  that must not be forgotten, but from which we must learn how to better cooperate in the future, " Sutanovac told Serbian newspaper Nin.

He added that Croatia is the last country in the region with which Serbia is signing such an agreement, but that Croatia is also a country with war experiences with Serbia and which still traumatizes from the 90s when the Balkan wars were fought – more so than Serbia.

"Just the fact that I will visit Croatia in my position as the Minister of Defence shows that there is a desire from both sides to make things better," he said adding that after the agreement is signed,  the two armies will have a possibility to organize mutual exercises, trainings, educational exchanges, etc.

"Croatia has professionalized its army, has been participating in Partnership for Peace for a long time, and is a NATO member.  It is a country that participates in a large number of peace missions, and that is the future of the Serbian army as well," Sutanovac said.

Foreign experts believe it will soon be an ideal time to invest in Croatia

Croatian Times

Foreign experts say it will soon be an ideal time to invest in Croatia because they believe the Croatian economy will decline drastically in the coming months.

The daily Poslovni dnevnik has reported that kind of scenario could be a great incentive for foreign investors because share prices will drop.

The daily said such a pessimistic scenario of the domestic economy comes from global investment fund Templeton Emerging Markets, which claim share prices, employment, orders and sales will decline to their lowest levels in the upcoming three months.

Besides low prices, the global fund says the good news for investors is that Croatia has made great progress in its effort to become an EU member and still has very stabil monetary and fiscal policy.

But, despite the report, the daily warns it is hardly to be expected that foreign investors will rush into the Croatian market even if many may find it of interest.

But, opposed to Templeton Emerging Markets, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) believes the Croatian market may be faced with lack of demand. According to HNB, economic growth in 2010 will be 0.3 per cent, which will not be attractive to foreign investors.

Kroatië nog een jaar 'up-coming'

Recent is een akkoord bereikt rond een lang slepende discussie over visgronden tussen Slovenië en Kroatië. Nu het dispuut, wat de toetredings onderhandelingen vertraagde, is opgelost kan Kroatie versneld toetreden tot de EU. Zo stelt de Europese Commissie en de Kroatische overheid. Nederlandse investeerders, op zoek naar zekerheden, beschouwen Kroatie's toetreding, in een tijd van onzekerheden, als een lichtpunt voor stijging van onroerend goed prijzen.

De toetreding hangt af van eisen die de EU stelt, zoals hervorming van de scheepswerven, moderniseren van het rechtssysteem en medewerking met het internationaal gerechtshof in Den Haag. Hoofd-onderhandelaar Vladimir Drobnjak bevestigt dat de laatste fase is aangebroken: “Doordat nu ook het akkoord is bereikt kunnen feitelijk de onderhandelingen in minder dan een jaar afgerond worden”.

Nick van den Bichelaer van makelaar Middelland Croatia in Split is zowel verheugd als bezorgd. “Veel bedrijven en banken staan in de startblokken, maar wachten de officiële toetreding tot de EU af om hun investeringen te doen. De verwachting is dat grond- en onroerend goed prijzen, nu nog fors onder druk door de crisis, direct zullen stijgen na die datum. Wij verwachten dat onze Nederlandse cliënten nog slechts een jaar hebben om van de huidige gunstige situatie te profiteren, voordat de prijzen zullen stuwen. Kroatie is en blijft, door haar strenge ecologische wetgeving, een land waar het aanbod gering is”.